Validation and Abridgement of Clinical Learning Environment Scale.

Nursing education

ABSTRACT Background: In nursing education, Clinical Learning Environment (CLE) plays a pivotal role in nursing curriculum and periodic assessment of CLE ensures quality clinical experience to produce competent nurses’. The Clinical Learning Environment Scale (CLES) was designed to assess Nursing students’ perception on Clinical Learning Environment. Purpose: CLES has been predominantly used in the west. However the CLE Scale needs to be validated before it can be used in Indian setting to assess the Clinical Learning Environment among nursing students. The objective of the study was to test the reliability and validity of the CLES. Methods: Principal components analysis using varimax rotation was conducted to explore the factor structure of the instrument. Construct validity was tested using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Using Cronbach’s alpha, reliability was tested to assess the internal consistency of the instrument. Results: There were 375 participants in the study. The participants were between the ages of 17 to 25, with a mean of 20 years and 2 months. In the exploratory factor analysis, the principal component analysis (PCA) yielded four factors with Eigen values greater than 1. Five models were tested in the confirmatory factor analysis, and the three – factor model resulting from the PCA showed the best fit, accounting for 59.18% of the variance. Cronbach’s Alpha values obtained for the student contentment, nurse manager committal, and work culture subscales were 0.87, 0.81, and 0.46. Conclusion/ Implications for Practice: Our results suggest that the abridged CLES is a valid and reliable tool for measuring students’ perception towards their clinical learning environment. Keywords: Nursing Education, Clinical Learning Environment, Perception, Nursing students’, Validation, Abridgement.  

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